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IPCC release statement about Cleveland Police complaint

The police watchdog has upheld a complaint that a Cleveland Police officer punched a man while arresting him.

The IPCC has released a full statement, which you can read below.

"The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has directed Cleveland police to reinvestigate a complaint for wrongful arrest and recommended an officer face a misconduct meeting over an allegation of assault.

The complainant was arrested at his home, a caravan on a farm in Hartlepool, in February 2012 by officers from the force.

He initially made a number of complaints to Cleveland police during his detention and later appealed to the IPCC after they were not upheld by the force.

Following an assessment of his appeal, the IPCC upheld a complaint that an officer assaulted the 41-year-old by punching him.

The IPCC has also ordered that a complaint for unlawful arrest be reinvestigated by Cleveland police.

The man had been recording his arrest on his mobile telephone and alleged that it had been taken off him and the recording deleted. Although tests showed no files had been deleted from the telephone, a complaint about this was upheld by the IPCC on the basis that the officers did not have the authority to look through the telephone.

Complaints that he was assaulted by officers who entered his caravan, that he was mocked by officers inside the caravan, that an officer refused to give his collar number and that damage was caused to his property were not upheld."